RAD Application Server Publishing settings and WTP based Maven Projects

The WebSphere Application Server publishing setting in RAD has two options: 1) Run server with resources within the workspace, and 2) Run server with resources on Server. When perform "Run/Debug on Server", with the "within the workspace" option, applications run from the workspace, while with the "on Server" option, applications are deployed to Application Server first and then run from the server.

When there is a local application server is available, the "within the workspace" option is the default and it takes less publishing time compare to the "on Server" option. However, it may not work with WTP based Maven projects that have "Workspace Resolution" enabled.

Given a Maven project that consists of two modules - core and web, when perform "Run/Debug on Server" with Maven "Workspace Resolution" enabled and the "within the workspace" option selected. RAD doesn't publish the core jar file to the workspace publishing folder (e.g. .metadata\.plugins\org.eclipse.wst.server.core\tmp1\), and uses two different class loaders to load the core jar and the web application, thus causes class loading related issues, examples include

- spring xml in the web module cannot import spring xml from core module using <import resource="classpath:com/test/resources/spring-core-beans.xml" />

- the web module cannot load resources from core module using ResourceBundle.getBundle(baseName)

An easy solution to these issues is to use the "Run server with resources on Server" publishing settings.

Integrating m2eclipse-wtp with IBM Rational Application Developer for Portlet Development

This is a walkthrough for integrating Maven with IBM Rational Application Developer for portlet development using m2eclipse-wtp.

Step 1 - Install IBM Rational Application Developer V8.0.4

Refer my previous notes - Setup a Portlet Development Environment With IBM Rational Application Developer 8

Step 2 - Install m2eclipse-wtp release 1.0.100

1) In RAD open the menu Window - Preferences - Install/Update - Available Software Sites, enable sites listed below,

* http://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/updates/3.6
* http://download.eclipse.org/webtools/repository/helios

2) In RAD open the menu Help -> Install New Software, add this new location:

http://download.jboss.org/jbosstools/updates/m2eclipse-wtp

and select the following check boxes:

* Maven Integration for Eclipse
* Maven Integration for WTP
* Expand Maven Integration for Eclipse Extras folder and select only m2e connector for maven archiver pom properties

Step 3 - Install m2e connectors for software configuration management (SCM)

In my case SVN is used as SCM, I first installed Subclipse V1.6.X from update site http://subclipse.tigris.org/update_1.6.x, then in RAD open the menu Window - Preferences - Maven - Discovery, click the Open Catalog button, and select/install the m2e-subclipse connector.

Step 4 - Setup Java EE and Maven preference

1)In RAD open the menu Window - Preferences - Java EE - Project, uncheck the "Add project to an EAR" checkbox.

2)In RAD open the menu Window - Preferences - Maven - WTP integration, uncheck the "Generate application.xml under the build directory" checkbox.

Step 5 - Add Maven projects into RAD workspace

Use RAD "Checkout Maven projects from SCM" or "Import Existing Maven Projects" wizard to add your Maven projects into RAD workspace.

In my demo project, I have a Maven project that consists of three modules: core, webapp and ear. When the projects are imported into RAD, the m2eclipse-wtp plugin apply appropriate facets to the projects based on the maven project types

Step 6 - Setup EAR project properties

This step is important to use RAD Portlet development features include debug/run on server, and edit WAS deployment descriptor.

1) Right click the ear project and select Properties - Project Facets, select the "Websphere Application(Co-existence)" and the "Websphere Application(Extended)" checkboxes, change the version based on your WAS server version

2) Right click the ear project and select Properties - Targeted Runtimes, select the "Websphere Portal" checkbox.

Congratulations! now you have set up a Maevn based portlet development environment in RAD.

Issues and Solutions

Issue - The EAR project popup menu doesn't show the option Open WebSphere Application Deployment

Solution - ensure in the ear module POM file, the maven-ear-plugin/configuration/version property is set to 5 or up.

<plugin>
  <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
  <artifactId>maven-ear-plugin</artifactId>
  <version>2.6</version>
  <configuration>
    <!-- generate application.xml version 5, to enable RAD to edit WAS deployment descriptor -->
    <version>5</version>  
    <modules>
      <webModule>
        <groupId>${project.groupId}</groupId>
        <artifactId>demo-webapp</artifactId>
        <contextRoot>MavenDemoPortlet</contextRoot>
      </webModule>
    </modules>
  </configuration>
</plugin>

Issue - Open WebSphere Application Deployment for the EAR project shows error Could not open the editor: An unexpected exception was thrown.

Solution - check the ear project settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.component file, ensure the deploy-name attribute of wb-module has the same value as the Eclipse project name. This can be achieved by two different ways.

1) In ear module POM file, add the build/finalName property, and set the value as the ear module artifactId,

<build>
  <!-- 
    same as the artifactId, which is the RAD project name, and also the    
    deploy-name defined in settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.component    
  -->
  <finalName>demo-ear</finalName>
  ...
</build>

2) During the project import, use the [artifactId]-[version] Name template in Advanced setting.

Issue - Run/Debug the portlet on Server shows error EJPPG0024I: Web application with context root XXX is deployed in the application server but not registered with portal.

Solution - check the webapp project settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.component file, ensure the context-root property of wb-module has the same value as the contextRoot defined in the ear maven-ear-plugin. If they are different, either update the ear POM file, or set the m2eclipse.wtp.contextRoot or the build/finalNameproperty in webapp module POM to update the webapp project settings/org.eclipse.wst.common.component file.

<properties>
  <!-- this must be same as the contextRoot defined in the ear module-->
  <m2eclipse.wtp.contextRoot>MavenDemoPortlet</m2eclipse.wtp.contextRoot>
</properties>

IBM Rational Floating License on Network Servers

When install IBM Rational floating license on a network server that resides behind firewall, it is importatnt to note in the license.dat file, we must specify individual port numbers on not only the SERVER line, but also each VENDOR or DAEMON line, as shown in below.

SERVER    <hostname>   <host or NIC ID>   <lmgrd port>

VENDOR ibmratl PORT=<ibmratl port>

The <lmgrd port> in SERVER line defines the port number used by the license manager daemon (lmgrd), and the <ibmratl port> defines the port number used by the vendor daemon (ibmratl). Once firewall is configured to allow access to these port numbers, desktop IBM Rational applicaitons can now access the license on network server.

Setup a Portlet Development Environment With IBM Rational Application Developer 8

This is a walkthrough for setting up a portlet development environment With IBM Rational Application Developer (RAD) 8.

Step 1 - Verify you meet the System requirements for Rational Application Developer 8.
Reference: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=2042&uid=swg27019500

Step 2 - Download RAD 8 install package
Trial version can be found from http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/downloads/r/rad/?S_CMP=rnav

Step 3 - Install RAD 8
Lunch the IBM Installation Manager to install Rational Application Developer for WebSphere, in Features screen, select Portlet and Portal development tool. If you don't have a local portal server installed, make sure the "Tools for developing applications without a local server installation" option is selected, as shown in below.

Step 4 - Setup a Portal Server in RAD
1) From the RAD menu, Window -> Show View -> Servers
2) Right-click the server view and click New -> Server.
3) On the Define a New Server page, select WebSphere Portal Server
4) Follow the New Server wizard and provide the WebSphere Settings, WebSphere Portal Settings and Properties Publishing Settings.

Step 5 - Verify the setup
Right-click the Portal server in the server view then do a start and stop to verify the server setup.

Congratulations! Now you have set up a portlet development environment in RAD, and you are ready to start portlet development.